Environmental Services Introduces Beautification Effort

New Program Targets Abandoned Shopping Carts

El Paso, Texas – The City of El Paso is introducing a new program to reduce the number of shopping carts that on daily basis make their way onto streets, medians, storm water conveyances, arroyos and residential neighborhoods, especially those that are left in these areas for weeks at a time, or longer.

“Shopping carts are essential to being able to shop conveniently. However, these same carts can become a significant nuisance when they leave the grounds of stores and shopping centers,” Ellen Smyth, Environmental Services Department Director, said. “To try to minimize shopping carts from becoming a public nuisance, the City adopted an ordinance establishing shopping cart control requirements for retail and service establishments.”

The ordinance was adopted by the City Council in August 2010. Enforcement will begin in March 2011. The delayed enforcement will allow the department to conduct outreach to educate the retail and service industry about the new ordinance.

The ordinance, which was adopted as a revision to Chapter 9.04 of the El Paso City Code, requires owners of shopping carts to label their carts; recover their carts at least once weekly within a one-mile radius of the store; and immediately recover any off-property cart upon the store manager being notified of the cart’s location by either a private citizen or City official.

Environmental Services has scheduled two meetings to educate retail and service establishments about the ordinance. The meetings are at:

·        10 a.m. on January 31, in the main conference room of the El Paso Police Department Westside Regional Command Center, at 4801 Osborne Dr.

·        2 p.m. on February 3, in the main conference room of the El Paso Police Department Pebble Hills Regional Command Center, at 10780 Pebble Hills Blvd.

Both meetings will cover the same information. The two locations and times have been scheduled for the convenience of the business community. For more information, visit www.elpasotexas.gov/environmental _services or call (915) 621-6700.